


Now is Not the Time

by annalyia



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Gift Fic, for Morgs :)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-13
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-08-22 07:22:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8277548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annalyia/pseuds/annalyia
Summary: Cullen has had some feelings welling up inside of him recently and he chooses an inopportune time to vocalize them





	

**Author's Note:**

> from the prompt "I love you" "I really don’t think that now is the best time to talk about this"

A slice of daggers through the air.  Cullen smiles as he watches Evelyn Trevelyan take down enemy after enemy around her – but he raises his shield and parries because he knows she would kill him if he let his guard down for even a moment, no matter how beautiful she looks. 

            He’s not entirely sure as to why, but Cullen finds her absolutely stunning in the heat of battle.  Her hair always comes loose from her ponytail and all the fly-aways halo her head.  She gets the most intense look in her violet eyes, completely aware of every adversary and the moves they may or may not make.  She wields her daggers with such grace that Cullen could have easily mistaken her for a dancer. 

            Almost a second too late, Cullen realizes he is, once again, getting distracted by her and nearly fails to raise his shield in time to block a blow from a Red Templar.  Cullen throws the Templar back and stabs into its chest, ending the creature’s life quickly.  Glancing around, he does not see any more opponents, other than the ones dead on the ground and the one whose head is being removed by Evelyn. He walks towards her as she turns to the side, trying to keep the blood from spewing all over her face. 

            “Well, that could have—”

            “I love you,” Cullen interrupts, causing Evelyn to start.  Her eyes widen almost imperceptibly, but she manages to keep her cool.  When she doesn’t respond, Cullen repeats himself.  “I love you.”

            Evelyn is thankful that Cassandra, Solas, and Dorian are far enough away that they don’t hear this.  She smiles and blushes, but manages to maintain her composure.  She opens her mouth to speak, but at that moment six Red Templars and a Knight decide this is the ideal time to jump out of the woods and charge at them.  She adopts her fighting stance and calls orders to her companions before turning back to Cullen and saying, “I really don’t think that now is the best time to talk about this,” before running into the fray. 

            Without giving real thought to what he is doing, Cullen shouts another “I love you!” before rushing into battle himself.

            One dagger in the chest of a Templar, Evelyn slashes her other through his arm before replying, “this is really not a good time, Cullen!”

            Dorian lets out a loud snort as he casts a barrier over Cullen and Evelyn.  “Is it better now?”

            Evelyn scoffs and removes her daggers from the Templar.  “How about you focus on killing these guys instead?”

            Dorian smirks but does not respond.

            Cassandra brings her shield down on the Red Templar Knight, causing it to stumble.  “I believe that to be a good suggestion,” she says, hacking and slashing with her sword.  “While this conversation seems rather interesting, I do not think that now is the correct time to discuss it.”  She slices off a piece of the red lyrium sticking out of the monster’s shoulder.  It bellows out in anger.

            Dorian shoots a fireball at two Templars who were unlucky enough to be standing close together, sending them into a panic.  “Come now, Cassandra!  In the topic of love, now is as good a time as any!”

            “So you’re suggesting that the heat of battle brings out the heat of their passions?” Solas asks as he effortlessly summons a veilstrike that pummels the still burning Templars. 

            “This is really not a good time,” Evelyn repeats, more forcefully this time as she slits the throats of the two Templars, just in case Dorian’s and Solas’s spells had not finished the job.

            Three down, four to go.

            Cullen joins Cassandra in her fight against the Knight, stabbing it in the arm as it tries to strengthen one of its companions.  The creature roars out in pain and turns on Cullen, swinging its good arm in his direction.  Cullen takes the blow in his shield, and, letting out a cry of his own, cuts at the injured arm again, as Cassandra methodically hacks at the creature’s back.  As the Knight falls to its knees, Cullen, without turning, hollers out another “I love you!” and hears Evelyn’s exasperated groan in return. 

            Cassandra rolls her eyes at Cullen as she removes one of the Knight’s arms.  “Are you going to do anything to help?” she asks, cutting off the other. 

            Cullen grins but slashes down on the former Templar, leaving a gaping gash in its chest.  “I am always ready to help, Cassandra.”

            The Templar Knight collapses, but Cullen and Cassandra stab at it a few more times to ensure that it is dead. 

            In the meantime, Evelyn, Dorian, and Solas have been making quick work of the three remaining Red Templars.  Evelyn has been viciously attacking one Templar; he has multiple stab wounds and does not look like he will last much longer.  The other two must not have been paying attention to the battle, for they were caught in the same situation as the pair from before – burning and crushed by Dorian and Solas’s expert spells. 

            “I think that is all of them,” Cassandra says, wiping her sword on the grass at her feet before sheathing it.  “So, is now a good time, Evelyn?”

            If Cullen were not attuned to Evelyn’s every move and word, he would not have noticed her grumbling over the laughter of her companions. 

            Throwing his arms around Solas and Cassandra’s shoulders, Dorian says, “I do believe that it would be a better situation if the rest of us were to take a long stroll through the woods and see if there are any more Templars that we need to flush out of this area.”  Without waiting for their replies, the Tevinter mage gently but purposefully leads his friends away from Cullen and Evelyn. 

            “Thank you!” Cullen calls after them before turning to Evelyn with a wide grin on his face.  “What?” he asks, grin fading as he sees his love with her lips pursed, looking completely and utterly unamused.  “Did I do something wrong?”

            “I told you it was not a good time,” she says, averting her eyes.

            Cullen places a hand against her face, and she leans into it.  “Is there something more that is bothering you?” he asks, pulling her close and making her meet his eyes.

            She mumbles something incoherent.

            “Evelyn, please?”

            “I worry about you,” she whispers, placing her hand over his and interlocking their fingers.  “I don’t want you to get hurt in a fight because of me.”

            In that moment, Cullen’s heart melts.  “Oh, love,” he murmurs, placing a gentle kiss against her forehead.  “You know I am perfectly capable of handling myself.”

            “Yes, I’m aware,” she says.  “But at the same time, I don’t think that I could live with myself if you were to be injured.”  She sighs.  “It’s a silly thing, I’m sorry.”

            Cullen embraces Evelyn warmly, holding her as close as their armor will allow – which, granted, is not as close as he would like.  “It is not silly, my love,” he says.  “I’ll do my best to be more careful from now on, alright?  I don’t wish to distract you either.”

            Evelyn smiles against Cullen’s chest.  “That would be nice.”

            “Just nice?”

            Looking up, Evelyn meets Cullen’s eyes.  “It would be better than nice,” she says simply, planting a small and chaste kiss on his lips.

            “Good!” he replies, smiling.  “So?”

            Evelyn tilts her head in confusion.  “So what?”

            “Earlier, I said that I love you, which I most definitely do, if you’re alright with that.”  He averts his eyes nervously.  “Do you have anything to say in return?”

            “I love you, too,” Evelyn says with a laugh.

            “Good!” Cullen repeats, giving his love another wonderful kiss. 

**Author's Note:**

> so this was a present for @morgsmorgsmorgsblr on tumblr! it's an, uh, extremely late birthday present but I sure do hope that she, and the rest of you, enjoy it :)


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